Depth1

Same processor. Could it be the 110 volt net? That should affect the powersupply more than anything, but in these strange times, who knows.

King-George-Himself

Sorry to interrupt, but if the System Idle Process ''tells'' the processor to skip cycles, how come the CPU is colder when there is no load? (How come the CPU eats less power?) And vice-versa.

?

perris

the system idle doesn't tell the processor to skip cycles

it reports the cycles that are not being used by any thread

---

kayama

Ok, first post here on OSNN Forum.


The reason I am posting? I have a serious problem, and not just in gaming.

I run: SpeedFan & FreeRam XP Pro. My only real extra's. What is the problem?


I started noticing my problems playing WoW. What was happening? I purchased this 3.45 gig p4, pumped money into the full 2 GBs of RAM. . . everything went well.

But I don't exactly remember when it began.
Right now: 94% CPU usage in TASK MANAGER/PROCESSES
under PERFORMANCE: my CPU spikes from 4% - 88% to 27% - 70%.

So my performance says my CPU is being used, my FREERAM XP says the same, in a spiking behavior; has the SYSTEM IDLE PROCESS begun using rather than monitoring unused CPU power?

Because I've read from the thread:
http://www.devhood.com/messages/mess...0874&current=0

As well as many others and am YET to find a solution which will give me back control of my computer, return me to my previous load up times or let my system run properly, im constantly being halted, nearly to a stop whether gaming or or switching programs my system is running like a pentium 1.

?!!!?!?!?!?!!?!? I downloaded and ran Process Explorer to find that 80% of SIP were red issues. I also am unsure if I can disable IRC ports in BIOS like I read in the other thread? Perhaps this is another solution.

I am vexed, stressed, and near giving up.

dominik j
www.img-81.com/

IanManning

Hi, Perris and all.

I'm new to this forum and not that deep into how Windows works. Found your explanation very illuminating, not because I understood all of it (I'm a bit of a Homer when it comes to maths, etc), but the conclusion was just what I wanted to know!
However, I would like to ask one question (which may be really dumb from your perspective!). Is the CPU figure for 'System Idle' the only process which reports in this way? All other processes listed under CPU show zeros when the machine is idle, so m I right to assume that these zeroes mean that they are using no CPU resources?

Good to become a member - the forum looks like it will be very interesting and useful.

Ian

generatech

OK. I thought I understood the concept of System Idle Process but realize I don't.

Some guy posted this online recently as a solution to "clear memory," but that doesn't seem accurate if the SysIdleProc only shows the percentage of idle time (i.e., available CPU time) available moment by moment.

I tried his "trick" but would like to know exactly what it really does.
----------------
HERE IT IS:
Create a shortcut for this exactly as shown above and name the shortcut anything:

%windir%\system32\rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks

When you double-click it, it will clean out the SystemIdle Process of its accumulated loitering junk (but this doesn't seem accurate to me).

perris

that's a fair mistake he made, but a mistake never the less

his command tells the computer to perform the idle tasks immediately instead of when the system is idle

idle tasks have nothing to do with system idle process, it just sounds the same

---

generatech

Thanks for your explanation and quote about Idle Tasks.

That resolves my confusion (at least about that).

hdancer

On my system, there are times when simply opening a folder can take more than 45 seconds. When I look at resource usage with the task manager, SIP is taking > 90%. If SIP is really "cpu availability", but no other tasks are able to run, where are all the cycles going?

Itchydon

Thanks Perres - very well explained!! Appreciated!!

flyboy33337

I'm having a similar problem with my CPU usage getting eaten up. I have about 36 process running. I just ran a registry cleaner so I should be good there. My CPU usage is at 85 % with my system idle being 85-95%. I run XP Pro. As soon as I open my browser my CPU usage go's to 100 % until the page is loaded. I ran norton antivirus and came up empty. does anyone have any ideas??

below is my current configuration


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Operating System System Model
Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (build 2600) Enclosure Type: Desktop
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
2.20 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: NF-CK804
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG 07/20/2005
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160.03 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
152.63 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

E-IDE CD-ROM 50X
IDE-CD R/RW 4x4x32 [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

ST3160812AS [Hard drive] (160.04 GB) -- drive 0 1536 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'A0' is Empty
Slot 'A1' is Empty
Local Drive Volumes

c: (NTFS on drive 0) 31.45 GB 25.28 GB free
d: (NTFS on drive 0) 128.58 GB 127.35 GB free

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Users (mouse over user name for details) Printers
local user accounts last logon
Bart 1/6/2007 2:38:42 AM (admin)
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Administrator never (admin)
Guest never
HelpAssistant never
SUPPORT_388945a0 never


Marks a disabled account; Marks a locked account Lexmark 3300 Series on USB001

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NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
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Networking Dns Server: 192.168.0.1
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Norton AntiVirus Version 14.00
Virus Definitions Version 1/5/2007 Rev 18
Last Disk Scan on Saturday, January 06, 2007 2:22:00 AM
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All required security hotfixes (using the 11/14/2006 Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary) have been installed.


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KB924191 on 12/31/2006 (details...)
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American Zombie

Download and install Process Explorer then you can get a better idea of what is using the CPU.

flyboy33337

thanks I'll try it

flyboy33337

I downloaded process explored and it shows that on an average, 80% of my cpu capacity is being used for hardware interupts. What does this mean and what can be causing it????.....I'll check for conflicts

Aquilar

Explain this one.

The graph on the performance tab does not represent what is shown in the Processes tab.

If I put the system to work at something CPU intensive, the graph (and the CPU usage snapshot) will report steady high usage, 96-100% consistantly. Meanwhile, the system idle process will report 40-60% on the Processes tab.

I JUST formatted this thing not very long ago.

abhishekshinde007

This is first post and I hope that people will give answer for the difficulty we are facing

1. I am havng machine (XP pro, p4-Hyperthreading) and as per the system's task manager the "System Idel Process" is showing 98% usage.
2. I run a antivirus check and a antispy program simultaneously.(for approx. 2 hrs they run)
3. In between i want to open a notepad and a Firefox and want to use them. A GTalk messenger is running in background. (I do toggle between them frequently in these 2 hrs.)

*Now the problem I am facing is..........................................................
The task manger showing 55% for "System Idel Process". At this point I am using firefox and want to switch to notepad which I used before 2 mins.

When I do switching the notepad takes literaly 30 seconds to just show up so I can Edit it.

Now a popup arrives from gtalk, and i am not getting the contents(message) for next two minutes.
.....................................................................................................

Above was only one scenario. This also happens on a simple normal running (so the application running/responding slow).

One thing I want to say that, same scenario with same config (on Other) pc do not produce such result!
There the "System Idel process" is present but do not show up if computer is Idel.

KentuckyRanger

Thanks for this very informative post. I've also read that hyper threading technology plays into this as well. Intel splits the processor but there is still only one support system. If the software running doesn't utilize hyper threading properly it can actually slow the program down because it's trying to divvy up processor Time not only between multi tasked programs but in theory it's also trying to divvy up system resources between what the operating system thinks is Two processors. At least this is what I get out of the things I've read. I'm not sure what the newer duo core processor Intel brought out is or how it works but I'm sure it still only has one support system to handle all the CPU activity.
I guess the only way you could truly have a computer utilizing dual cores would be to slave to CPU's together, I have a Headache... ;O)

KentuckyRanger

Computer hardware is only as reliable as the People who invent and manufacture it.
Computer software is only as stable as the People who write it and input the data.
This is why we have such problems with PC's and why your system idle process really isn't the cause of your problem but it is a symptom.
If you want flawless performance with limited interactivity with the rest of the World then go get an Apple. That's why most serious computers are Apples. They work flawlessly, among themselves. Can we say PROPRIETARY?
I know in the last few Years Apple has tried to play nice but they just can't let go.
You wanna work hard and party? Go for a PC.
You wanna work hard and stay at Home? Get an Apple, it's as simple as that.
The problem with PC's vs Apple is this very situation. Apple is one entity. PC's are many and diverse. You have the manufacturer of the Motherboard, the manufacturer of the Chip set that goes on the Motherboard, The manufacturer of the video Card, Sound Card, Ram, external input devices i.e. Ports, Modem (does anyone use Modems anymore?), Hard Drives, CD and DVD drives, video Monitor and last but not least, the manufacturer of the software that runs the operating system as well as all the other programs that make a PC what we want it to be, something productive and entertaining.
I call this too many cooks in the Kitchen working on the same dish using recipes from different cultures. In the end you might get a great pizza, but sometimes there are things on it that just don't taste right. We eat it anyway but it's just not right.
That's why Apple works so well but can't play in the Back Yard with the other Kids, it has to go to a private School with the other Apples. They are very bright but limited when it comes to socializing and having fun.
PC's on the other Hand are fun fun fun! They play with everyone well, but not with one perfectly. It's like in real life. We can get along with just about anyone, including Apples but we have to compromise. Apples on the other Hand don't compromise and that's what makes them great! It also makes them snobs, that's why I can never bring myself to buy an Apple, I'm a People Person. I like freedom to chose who I play with.
I only wish more had invited IBM's OS2 Warp into the Back Yard when they came over to play but the majority chose Windows instead.
Any Computer is only as good as the operating system that controls it.
The PC's master is Microsoft.
Microsoft passes out it's game Book to whoever wants to play. Only problem is this, sometimes the Game Book gets updated. If the other Kids on the Block don't get the new Book they tend to play the Games in strange manners.
If you think about it, it's an awesome thing that PC's even boot up, given the circumstances.
Most good players really keep up with the newest Game Books so there's hardly ever a problem with the Game. Then there are the slower, lazy Kids that figure the Book they have is O-Tay, that's why some software and hardware works so well while others suck.
This is true with all aspects of PC Dom. You have Windows trying to control a machine with standard rules. If the machine doesn't understand the rules bad things happen. This is why on some machines windows acts flawlessly while in others it seems like a milestone just to launch Notepad.
Also, the machine is only as powerful as it's peripherals will allow.
Don't expect a Pentium 2 with 250meg of Ram and Motherboard Video to run Win XP and Doom 3 flawlessly.
But also keep in Mind that the mega PC you purchased from Fingerhut for $499 with a 3 Ghz P4, 1 Gig of Ram and some Video Card from a Country you've never heard of to run Doom 3 any better.
I have found after Years of PC tinkering the one thing that has helped the most. Always stay with manufacturers who sleep with Microsoft!
They cost more but your safe! You might get lucky going downtown for love but in the end you'll save allot of Time, trouble and money in Aspirin if you stay within the dysfunctional Family and smile, knowing that your Family is allot more fun, productive and easy to get along with than the Apples across the Tracks up on the Hill.
Hope this helps. Did I get Wordy? I get so Wordy sometimes...

Firstmate

I didn't understand what Perris meant at the end of his explanation of the System Idle Process. Is it good or bad if it's over 90 and what exactly, in other words does it do?

perris

is it good or bad to have the system idle process over 90?

that depends on what your definition of good or bad is

if the process is over 90 it means your processor is doing only about 10 percent of what it's capable

this is good if you all of a sudden want to do something else there are plenty of resources available

it's bad in the sense that most of your computing ability is being wasted

all the process does is indicate how much of your processor is not being used...90 means your processor is not using 90 percent of it's capability

---